(a). Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a system and tools for cutting and placement of shingles on roofs. More particularly, but not by way of limitation to a cutting tool system that serves for cutting roofing shingles and for a method of installing a roof using the cutting tool system.
(b). Discussion of Known Art
The use of shingles, and particularly composite shingles, have become very popular due to the durability and relatively low cost as compared to materials such as clay tiles or wood shake roofing material. While we continue to witness significant advances in the development of improved materials for the fabrication of composite shingles, the installation of the shingles has experienced little advancement. The installation of the composite shingles continues to be a labor intensive process which places a great deal of emphasis on the use of manual labor, depending the skill and effectiveness of the person carrying out the installation.
A significant problem associated with the process of installing the composite shingle material over the roof to be covered is that to start the coverage of the roof with the shingles, one must first position at an appropriate location at one of the lower extremes of the roof, and then continue to attach shingles over the roof with shingles that are indexed relative to the shingles that have already been installed. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the entire process is commenced with properly positioned shingles.
Another significant problem with traditional installation methods is that the installer must position the first shingle of each row in a staggered manner, beginning at the rake edge, side edge, wall hip, or valley of the roof. Once the first shingle has been positioned at the proper location over the previous row, the shingle must then be cut to match the edge or rake edge of the roof or next to the intersection of the roof and a wall. This step of cutting the shingle to match the edge is typically carried out with the aid of a hand held utility knife. The use of this method leads to unreliable results, since the cutting depends on the strength and steadiness of the installer's hand. Moreover, the cut portions which had extended beyond the edge or rake edge of the roof must frequently be discarded since they of random dimensions.
Known devices for cutting shingles include the devices shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,781 to Hile, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,495 to Renk and in U.S. Pat. No. 1,918,104 to Hook. Other cutting devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 792,636 to Pottern, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,285 to Greene, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,985 to Lund, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,092,381 to Neely, and in U.S. Pat. No. 639,231 to Hale.